The widespread use of electronic systems in business and industry has led to the requirement to route large numbers of cables throughout the work environment. Various types of cable tray assemblies are used as a support system for carrying these cables throughout various locations in buildings and other commercial structures.
Attempts to provide additional space to accommodate greater numbers of cables have led to the development of raised floor grid systems. Raised floor grid systems make use of the space between the structure's original floor and an upper floor disposed in a spaced manner above the original floor.
Cable management systems are particularly adapted for positioning beneath the floor panels of the raised floor to contain and direct cables along their respective pathways. Cable management systems can include cable tray assemblies and cable enclosures. The cable tray assemblies are generally comprised of a large number of individual cable trays which are typically made of wire lengths welded together in a cage-like arrangement to provide a support surface for the cables. Cable enclosures are typically located at an intersection of two different runs of cable trays. Typical cable management systems are installed by removing floor tiles and cross beams from the raised floor grid system, which provides openings in the grid. The cable tray assemblies are passed through the openings to a position below the floor grid system. To install a cable enclosure, both floor tiles and the grid structure are required to be removed in order to provide a sufficiently large space through which the cable enclosure can pass to a position below the floor grid.
One problem encountered in these prior art cable management systems is the presence of sharp edges in the cable tray assemblies which are capable of cutting the cable's outer protective sheathing. In addition, increasing the number of cables within the confined space of the raised floor system restricts access to cable pathways which is required for carrying out maintenance and repair functions. The ability to vary the horizontal and vertical positioning of cable pathways in a controlled manner for improving cooling air circulation, optimizing cable pathway spacing and providing additional cable pathways is also limited in existing cable support systems.
Another problem encountered with these prior art cable management systems is that the cable enclosures are sized larger than an opening created by removing a single floor tile and, therefore, require that a user remove numerous floor tiles (both the floor tile directly above the desired position of the cable enclosure and adjacent floor tiles) and grid structure supporting the floor tiles and positioned adjacent the desired position of the cable enclosure. Removal of multiple floor tiles and support structure and reassembly of the tiles and support structure after installation of the cable enclosure is very time consuming.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing for the flexible vertical and lateral positioning of cable pathways in a raised floor system, as well as the elimination of sharp edges in, and an increase in the strength of, individual cable trays for accommodating larger numbers of cables. The present invention also addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by facilitating installation of a cable enclosure by solely removing a single floor tile, thereby decreasing the time required to install a cable enclosure.